Saudi eases foreign investor access to capital markets

RIYADH, January 10, 2018

The Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) has amended rules governing the kingdom’s qualified foreign investor (QFI) programme making it easier for foreign financial institutions and their managed funds and subsidiaries to qualify, and expanding the range of institutional investors eligible for the program.

The key changes to existing rules include:

•Eliminating the requirement for CMA review and approval of QFI qualification
•Lowering the assets under management (AUM) requirement for QFIs from $1billion to $500 million
•Automatically qualifying subsidiaries and managed funds of QFI applicants without the need to submit separate applications
•Easing of some continuous obligation requirements of QFIs.